


A Long Time Ago, and Not Too Far Away

by PrisLit



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Universe, Family Feels, I'm so sorry, Other, Parenthood, Parents Han and Leia, Young Ben Solo, didn't need my heart anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-18 07:55:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16991046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrisLit/pseuds/PrisLit
Summary: Han Solo is looking after ten-year-old Ben while Leia is away. When Ben asks for a story, Han tells him one he knows by heart.





	A Long Time Ago, and Not Too Far Away

“Ok, kiddo, lights out.” Han said, leaning his shoulder against the frame of his son’s bedroom door. “You’ve had a long day.”

Ben looked up from the toys he had been busy playing with -- replicas of some of the fastest racing ships in the galaxy. The tiny toys had been a gift from Han’s buddy Lando on Ben’s birthday, which had occurred the week before. The boy’s eyes had lit up like the twin Tatooine suns when he’d opened the gift, and Han had scarcely seen the boy without the little ships gripped tightly in his hands in the days that had passed since the party.

“But, Daaaaad.” Ben said with a pout, and Han couldn’t help but chuckle at the response. Also within the past week, Ben had taken to calling Han ‘dad’. Evidently ‘daddy’ was no longer an acceptable term of endearment for someone as sophisticated and mature as a ten-year-old boy. As Ben gathered his toy ships, he coughed -- a deep cough that shook his whole body.

Han scowled and went to sit on the edge of his son’s bed. Leia had not wanted to leave Ben when he was ill, especially considering the other problems they had been facing lately. Han, however, had insisted he could care for their son.  It was only a bad cold.

It was no wonder Ben was ill yet again. They could never keep the adventurous boy inside the house for long, even when the Chandrilan weather was wet and frigid. The child seemed to be perpetually filthy as well, the mere idea of a bath sending him into melodramatic fits, not to mention Ben was completely uninterested in eating anything that was remotely healthy for him. Han sighed. He and Leia had known parenthood would not be easy, but this kid...

Han brushed back his son’s thick dark hair and placed his hand against his forehead. Warm, but not hot, thankfully.  Han had promised Leia he would contact her if Ben did not seem to be improving. He decided to wait one more night before making a call. Right now, the boy just needed rest, something that was in short supply in the Organa-Solo household.

Han held out his hand and Ben reluctantly handed over his toys. Han placed them on the table beside the bed, next to the calligraphy set that Leia had given Ben for his birthday. Han had questioned that particular choice of gifts, thinking Ben would ignore the set for more boyish and age-appropriate items, but Leia had insisted Ben was the perfect age to begin learning the art. And as if solely to spite his father, their son had been fascinated by the gift (although nothing Leia did could ever be wrong as far as Ben was concerned). Every surface of their dwelling now bore testament to Ben’s love of his mother’s gift, covered in the boy’s amateur attempts at handwriting.

Ben sniffled as he snuggled down into his bed covers and laid his head back on his pillow. Han pulled the thick coverlet up and around the boy and reached for the light.

“Tell me a story!” Ben said, his little voice hoarse from his cough. Han turned and looked at the boy, a bit surprised by the request.

“You need to sleep, big guy.” Han explained. “Don’t you want to feel better so you can go outside and play?” Ben nodded, but Han had a feeling that wasn’t going to be the end of it.  Regardless, he attempted to reach for the light once again.

“I don’t like to sleep.” Ben admitted, his little forehead creased as he frowned. He had always been so intense with emotion, even as a toddler. “Mommy always tells me a story.” Han cocked an eyebrow as he glanced down at his son. So, ‘mommy’ was still acceptable, huh?

“Please?” Ben pleaded, and he tucked his chin in against his chest and peered up at Han. It was a move the boy had perfected that made his already large brown eyes, perfect replicas of Leia’s, seem twice their size. Han knew when he had been bested, and besides, the sleepy boy would probably nod off well before Han could even get two sentences into a story. Although _what_ exactly he would tell his son, he had not yet figured out.

“Alright, kid, you win. Scoot over.” Han said, and Ben happily moved over on his bed to allow room for his father to lounge beside him. Ben drew his long legs up (he already towered above his friends his age and Leia and Han were perplexed by the impossible task of keeping him in clothes that fit) and gazed at Han expectantly.

Han thought for a moment, and then began to tell his son the story he knew best.

“A long time ago, and not too far away, there lived a young girl.”

“Did she live in the sand?” Ben asked. Han rolled his eyes. He could already tell exactly how this story-telling was going to go, given his son’s wild imagination.

“No, she didn’t live in the sand.” Han replied, “and what girl do you know that lives in the sand? Have you ever even seen sand?”

Ben shrugged. “I dream about her sometimes.”

“Ok, well, do you want me to tell my story, or do you wanna tell me about your sandy dream girl?” Han teased, and with that, Ben settled to listen.

“So, this beautiful girl lived on a beautiful planet with her mom and her dad.” Han continued. “They loved their daughter very much, just like your mom and I love you.

As the girl got older, she found out about people on other planets who were unhappy, and that made the girl sad. So she decided to try and help ‘em.”

“Why were the people unhappy?” Ben asked softly, and Han considered the question carefully before continuing.

“Well… there were some very bad people in the galaxy, and those people wanted to take things that didn’t belong to them from planets that weren’t theirs.” Han explained.

“But that’s stealing!” Ben said, and Han couldn’t help but smile at the innocence in the boy’s voice.

“You got it, kiddo -- they were stealin’. And the girl knew that was wrong, and it made her mad. So mad that she decided she had to do somethin’ about it. The girl found out soon enough that she wasn’t the only one who wanted to stop the bad people, and she made lots of new friends. The girl and her friends started comin’ up with a plan to make the galaxy peaceful again.

But before the girl and her friends could put their plan into place, she was captured… By the very worst guy of all the bad guys.” Han saw Ben’s eyes widen in interest. “He locked her away in his space station and began lookin’ for her friends so he could put an end to their plans to stop him.”

“Was she scared?” Ben asked. He had pulled his coverlet up and was currently gripping it tightly in his little hands. He absentmindedly rubbed the soft fabric against his chin, something the boy had done to comfort himself since he was as small as Han could remember.

“I’m sure she was.” Han answered, “But this girl…” he stopped, a grin crossing his face as a memory fluttered through his mind. “This girl was really brave, because she knew somethin’ the bad guys didn’t. She had hidden a secret message in a droid, and sent that droid to her friends to warn them about what was happening. And to ask them for help!”

“Did the droid find her friends?” Ben inquired.

“It did.” Han answered. “And her friends rushed to her planet to help, but by the time they got there, her planet was gone.”

“Huh? Gone where?” Ben asked, his little eyebrows knitted in confusion.

“The bad people blew it up. That space station I mentioned earlier?  It was also a very powerful weapon.”

With that, Ben sat bolt upright, the coverlet falling down around him. He stared at Han, his eyes wide as saucers. Ok, maybe this wasn’t the best bedtime story to have chosen for a ten-year-old boy.

“They blew up a whole planet?” Ben enquired, incredulous. He paused between every word and Han chuckled at the dramatic response. So many of Ben’s little mannerisms reminded him of Leia.

“Yeah, kid, they did.” Han concurred. “But if you wanna’ find out what happens next, you're gonna’ have to lie back down.”

Ben sighed and laid his head back on his pillow, skinny arms crossed over his chest. Leia fought constantly trying to get Ben to eat enough to put weight on, but it was a battle only the boy’s never ending growth spurts were winning. Han watched his son’s face as he digested what he had told him. Ben’s look of contemplation slowly melted into pensiveness.

“Daddy?” Ben asked, his little voice barely more than a whisper.

“Hmm?” Han hummed in response, as he swept a stray ebony strand of the boy’s uncooperative and ever-tousled hair from his eyes.

“What happened to all the people on the blowed-up planet?” Ben asked, the look in his eyes distant as he stared at the ceiling. When Han didn’t answer right away, Ben turned to look at him. The sadness on his father’s face gave him the answer he was searching for.

“A lot of people would have given up at that point.” Han said. His voice was softer, as he looked down at Ben. “And although she was very, very sad about what happened to her planet and her family, the girl refused to give up. She couldn’t stand the thought of the same thing happenin’ to other planets, or to any more people. So she waited. And she hoped.

And lucky for her and for the galaxy, not long after, her friends came and rescued her.”

“How did they rescue her?” Ben asked and Han smiled. The kid was always a stickler for the details. Nothing got past him -- yet another trait he shared with his mother.

“Well, buddy, here’s where the fun begins.” Han chortled as he remembered. “Her friends actually allowed their ship to be captured, and they hid inside when the space station guards came on board. Then…” he paused for a moment, and Han could momentarily see Leia in his mind, hands on her hips, asking why in the world he would tell her baby these things. “They… uh…borrowed. Yeah, that’s it. They borrowed the uniforms of a couple of the guards for a disguise so they could move around without being noticed. Wasn’t that a good plan?” Han smiled, proud of himself.

“Did it work?” Ben asked, and Han’s smile faded.

“Well, yeah. I mean... for a while. Until I… they…” Han sighed, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, kid, it worked. Until it didn’t. But they rescued the girl, and that’s what matters.”

“And they ran back to their ship and flew away?” Ben asked. Evidently, Han was losing the boy’s interest, which of course, turned it into a personal challenge.

“It wasn’t quite that easy.” Han said, and turned to his son. “The guards started to chase them, and they were trapped!” he was gesturing wildly now as he spoke, and just as he figured, Ben’s interest peaked.

“So the girl came up with a crazy plan, and used a blaster to make a hole in the wall of the space station, and her and her friends dropped through the hole… straight into a trash compactor.”

“No way!” Ben exclaimed.

“Yeah.” Han replied. “I figured you’d like that.” He reached down and tickled his son under his ribs which sent the boy into a fit of high-pitched giggles. Unfortunately, that sent the boy into a fit of deep coughs. Han frowned. He was starting to worry about that cough.

“Ok, ok, time out.” Han said, taking the boy underneath his skinny arms and raising him up into his lap. Ben quieted as he laid his head on his father’s shoulder. His fingers played with the shiny buttons on Han’s shirt as he held him close. Maybe this had been a bad idea, Han thought to himself, leaving him home alone with an ailing child -- with _this_ ailing child. Han wasn’t like Leia -- he was terrible at offering comfort, and his patience with the situation was already wearing thin, and maybe he should at least touch base with his wife, just to give her an update, and get maybe an idea of what he could do to… Han took a deep breath and lowered his chin to rest it on top of his son’s head.

“There was a monster.” he whispered after a few moments, just loud enough for Ben to hear. He felt the boy react beneath him, although he remained silent. “It lived in the trash compactor, but the girl and her friends didn’t know it was there.”

“Did they get eaten?” Ben asked, and Han laughed.

“Well that would have been a really dumb ending to the story, now wouldn’t it?” With Ben’s cough quieted, he lowered the boy back down to his pillow. “No, they didn’t get eaten, although the monster did drag one of her friend’s down into the muck. They thought he was a goner, but at the last second, the monster let him go.”  Inquisitive, yet sleepy brown eyes peered up at Han. “Just when the three of them thought everything was ok, they heard a horrible noise, and the trash compactor began to move!”

“Move?” Ben asked, perplexed. “Why?” Han silently wished he had a galactic credit for each time Ben had uttered that short question.

“The purpose of a trash compactor is to compact the trash, son.” Han was met with a blank look from the boy beside him. “It squishes the trash into little pieces so they can throw it out into space.”

“Ohhhhhh.” Ben whispered in understanding, and then “Oh!” as he realized the plight of the heroes in Han’s story. Then his big brown eyes narrowed and he gave his father a smirk. “But I know they didn’t get squished because that would be a dumb ending.”

Han had to laugh out loud at that one, and he leaned his head back against the wall behind Ben’s bed.

“You’re catching on, kiddo.” He said with a proud grin. “And no, they didn’t get squished. Their droids, which they had left behind in one of the control rooms, were able to save ‘em, and just in the nick of time.

But something even more important than rescuing the girl was happening somewhere else on the space station. Another one of their friends had managed to lower the space station’s defence shields, and a fleet of rebel ships were on their way to attack and destroy it, so that no other planets would be in danger of its power.”

With this, Han’s mind drifted to Ben Kenobi, and the sacrifice he had made for their cause. Leia had dearly loved that old man, but Han had never understood why until Leia had explained Kenobi’s connection to her family, the Rebel Alliance, and the Jedi. Their son came to mind then, Kenobi’s namesake. Han’s brow furrowed slightly as he thought about what else his child held in common with Obi-Wan, and a wave of trepidation cascaded through him. No. No, he wouldn’t let that ruin this rare, peaceful moment between father and son.

“They managed to make it back to their ship, and…” Han glanced down at Ben, but the boy had drifted to sleep while Han had been deep in thought. He watched the boy for a moment, committing to memory Ben’s sleeping face. He wanted to remember him like this -- peaceful, happy, a typical little boy. Han knew that no matter what happened, he would always love his son. It wasn’t the boy’s fault that he had been born into all of this. Han made a pact then and there to fight for his boy, regardless of the cost.

Han carefully slid from the bed, taking care not to wake the boy. Ben had never slept well, not even as a baby, and any time the boy slumbered for even a short amount of time it was kin to a miracle for his exhausted parents.  Han switched off the light and slid the door closed, then thought better of it and opened it back up just a bit, just so he could hear his son should he need him.

“How is he?” Leia asked, eyes filled with concern.  Han had initiated a holo-transmission from the living quarters.

“He’s ok.” Han said, but he knew that wasn’t nearly enough for his wife. “That cough is worrying me. But his fever is down and I managed to get him to eat tonight, so…”

“Any…” Leia paused, searching for the best words. “Any other...problems?”

Han shook his head to and fro, but averted his eyes from the holo-image.

“Han?” Leia inquired, her voice taking on a sharp edge. She knew well when her husband was attempting to elude answering her with the whole truth.

“Just one. This morning.” He saw Leia’s reaction and immediately tried to downplay the situation. “It wasn’t bad. We were out of that muja juice he loves and… well, we might want to consider replacing the dishes he broke with less… breakable ones. You know, until he grows out of this.”

Leia sighed and rubbed her forehead. Tiny lines had started to form there, and around her eyes as well.

“And I am assuming those dishes were not broken by him throwing them?” She asked, not bothering to look at Han when she spoke.

“No… well, not with his hands, if that’s what you’re askin’. No.”

Ben was just a boy, but he was already incredibly powerful with the Force — more powerful than either of his parents could comprehend. And more than that, Ben was plagued by a darkness that could not be seen. Leia insisted it was there, hovering like a parasitic ghost above Ben. She could feel it through her own Force powers, but they were not strong enough to allow her to tell what or who was tormenting her baby.

The couple argued constantly — Leia terrified for the boy, Han unable to understand what to blame for her terror. All the while, little Ben continued to regress, tired from his sleepless nights, pulling away from the few friends he had, unable to communicate what was happening to him to the two people who loved him the most.

“What are we going to do, Han?” Leia pleaded. Her voice sounded tiny and so unlike herself. “He’s not going to grow out of this. It’s getting worse!”

Leia loved their child more than anything in the galaxy, but she was nearing the end of her rope with the outbursts and temper tantrums that left their home in shambles. Worst of all were the unexplained fits of terror-filled rage that would sometimes wake Ben from a dead sleep. His screams ripping them from their slumber, Han and Leia would try desperately to comfort the boy, but little could calm him. They both had been accidentally injured trying to wrench Ben from the grasp of these monstrous night terrors. Once he was awake, he could never remember what had frightened him so, or what he had done.

“I’ll talk to Luke again.” Leia said softly. Her brother had been a great source of comfort during all of this, assuring Leia that Ben only needed training to help him understand his powers and then, things would get better. Luke was nearing the completion of his plans for a school for young Force users - Jedi Padawans. He would take Ben, along with a small group of children like him, to a place where they could learn how to control their powers and use them for good.

It needed to be sooner than later, else Leia feared they would lose Ben forever to the darkness that plagued him.

A wail sounded from Ben’s room and Han dropped his head.

“He’s only been asleep for ten minutes!” he said through clenched teeth. He looked up at the holo-image of Leia. She looked panicked. The unshakable woman he married was ready to fall apart.

“I’ll take care of it.” Han said, although he had no idea how. The wisp of a boy, the sweet kid he had cuddled in his lap only moments earlier, could hurl Han across the room without lifting a finger. That was a fact the man unfortunately knew from experience.

“I’ll catch the next shuttle to Chandrila.” Leia said. She had tears in her eyes. “Tomorrow morning at the latest.”

“It’s fine. We’ll be fine.” Han said, giving his wife a look that was as loving and calm as possible before disconnecting the transmission.

Han ran down the hallway to Ben’s room, pausing at the door, his hands already shaking.  The boys wailing had evolved into choked, guttural groans. He sounded like a wounded animal, cornered and terrified.  Han started to slide open the door and winced as something -- he wasn’t sure what -- slammed into the wall inches from his head.

Heart racing, fists balled at his sides, Han Solo went to try and comfort his son.


End file.
